


Day 2 - Alliance Training

by MaxRev



Series: Kaidan Alenko Appreciation 2017 [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Boot Camp, Gen, Learning curves, Mention of Past Drug Abuse, Struggling, becoming stronger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxRev/pseuds/MaxRev
Summary: Alliance BC for Kaidan was tough for several reasons. It certainly wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.





	Day 2 - Alliance Training

**Author's Note:**

> These were written/created for [Kaidan Alenko appreciation week](https://spectrekaidanalenko.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.

“Everyone going to MCRD on your feet now!”

Remembering how things had been in BaAT, Kaidan jumped to his feet immediately. He knew what was expected. The drill instructor was headed their way, uniform crisp and pressed to within an inch of its life. The look on his face said more than words ever could.

Out of the corner of his eye, trying to look without being obvious, Kaidan saw quite a few of the new recruits, a very few even biotics like him, weren’t quite sure what to expect…or what was expected of them. They’d all stood up at the strict voice, though the DI wasn’t yelling. Yet.

BaAT wasn’t Alliance BC but he figured he was somewhat better prepared.

“To the bus in a single file line! Do you understand?” The gruff voice had gotten marginally louder.

Surprisingly, they all yelled out with Kaidan, ‘Yes, sir!” Of course, his voice was louder than the rest, their responses lukewarm at best.

“THE CORRECT RESPONSE IS YES SIR, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!”

This time, they all yelled at the top of their lungs, “ _Yes, Sir!_ ”

They proceeded to the bus and took their seats, waiting for the DI to make an appearance. Kaidan continued to look forward but several must have been sidetracked by the movement of their fellow recruits or looking out the windows.

“HEAD AND EYEBALLS TO THE FRONT OF THE BUS!”

All too soon, the bus ride was over. Once at receiving, the DI got up and proceeded to start yelling at them again. This would be their life at boot camp.

‘FROM NOW ON, THE ONLY WORDS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH WILL BE ‘YES, SIR - NO, SIR’ WHEN SOMEONE ASKS YOU A QUESTION. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“ _Yes, Sir!_ ”

“STAND UP! MOVE OUT! _NOW!_ ”

And so it began…

Processing was brutal; 36 hours with no sleep. Kaidan struggled to keep his eyes open, struggled not to let his legs buckle beneath him and pass out right there on the floor. Eyes always forward, he’d still managed to see the other recruits in varying degrees of exhaustion. The DIs thrived on creating stress just to see if they were fit to be Marines. Kaidan was going to prove that he was.

Twelve weeks of hell was on the horizon. He was determined to get through it and make his father and mother proud. He owed it to them for what he’d put them through after BaAT.

* * *

Coming home once the school had been shut down, he’d spiraled down into a hellish darkness that had seemed endless. Losing himself - desperate to _be_ lost - Kaidan turned to red sand. The drug made him feel good, riding high on a euphoria that pushed away the feelings he’d been left with after BaAt was shut down, his dark thoughts drifting away on a tide of pleasure. And the fact he’d killed another being in cold rage. It didn’t matter to him it was in defense of someone he cared so deeply about. Someone who turned away from him in fear after. 

The drug made him forget Rhana’s reaction, how she suddenly couldn’t bear to be around him anymore, couldn’t even look at him. Even the other students had given him a wide berth.

The red sand made every problem he’d had insignificant and far removed from his life. He lived in a haze: never noticing the filthy apartment he resided in, uncaring his hair went unwashed or clothes became soiled or even the layers of dust and grime which coated everything around him. Even his migraines hurt less or maybe he just didn't notice them. The absence of pain during those times was worth the cost of the rest. Not that he'd given the cost of what he was doing to himself much thought.

He couldn’t even be bothered to come to the door when his parents came by to check on him. He'd finally driven them away with harsh, painful words. The only contact he had was when he needed more money, which was only to supply him with more of the red sand.

At least until the day his father refused to give him more. Then Kaidan had screamed at him over the phone in anger, hanging up suddenly. To him, the ending of the phone call was forever. Why should he care about them when they wouldn’t help him?

But one day, he awoke more tired than when he’d passed out, shaking, every muscle in his body aching painfully and he was cold to the bone. _This was it_. He knew he couldn’t live like this anymore.

It was a monumental effort but he’d managed to clean himself up, waiting for the drug to leave his system. He worked at being healthy once again. No longer was he the skinny, drugged out failure from BaAT. Grace and Aleks welcomed him back with open arms. It took time to get over the guilt - he still struggled with it on occasion - but he saw the other side of his father’s refusal to help. That refusal was what saved him after all.

* * *

 What Kaidan hadn’t counted on in BC were three things: He was still not recovered completely from the Red Sand and it showed, the biotics training and what it meant to him specifically and the constant migraines. 

PT was brutal: Running, climbing, carrying rifles, dodging obstacles and make believe opponents. The CFT to measure their strength. Kaidan didn’t even _want_ to know where he ended up on that scale. The recruits never caught a break and it wore him out. His limbs felt weak, he struggled for breath and there were times he thought he was surely going to pass out in the middle of the field or he was going to drop his buddy doing the fireman carry. The DIs pushed them past their point of endurance every single day. Beyond exhaustion, Kaidan proved to himself he was capable of enduring.

Inspections weren’t easier. Constantly being yelled at for something wrong, right down to every minute detail. Ever since he was little, Kaidan had taken care of his things, tried to be neat and clean. BC took it to another level. Embarrassing as it was, there were times he wanted to break down and cry. Then again, there were times he had to hold himself from screaming back in the DIs faces. But, he endured and was determined to succeed.

Water training: Kaidan thought he’d excel at that. He did. Up to a point. Until they pushed past the easy stuff and continued on and on until he felt like he’d drown, felt like he’d swallowed several gallons of chlorine and cleaned out his organs until there was no bacteria left inside him. Still, he pushed on, determined to succeed.

Weapons training: Learn about the weapons they would be using in combat. Classes were easy. Kaidan excelled, far surpassing the other recruits. He was smart, loved to learn and absorbed information like a sponge. Even better, he never forgot anything. What he hadn’t counted on was the endless hours of shooting targets until his arms shook, his hands shook, his eyesight wavered. The other recruits surpassed him here but that wasn’t going to stop him. The five mile hike seemed more like twenty with all their gear. But Kaidan was determined to succeed.

Biotics training: This week the recruits learned to work together. All of them. But the biotics had their own special brand of hell. A hell Kaidan hadn’t been expecting. Mentally, it threw him. Having dealt with the emotional trauma of killing Vyrnus, having Rhana turn away from him in fear, being shunned by the other biotic students and then having BaAT shut down had taken him to places he’d never wanted to go. This almost did the same as he was unable to move past the fear of killing someone again. All the screaming in the world wouldn’t solve that. It was a struggle every day not to let them flare out of control when he was exhausted to the point of passing out. Yet, despite the mental anguish, despite the physical exhaustion, Kaidan persevered. No. He did more than that. He overcame. He was determined to succeed.

By now, Kaidan had managed to work beyond everything that BC and the DIs had thrown at him. He had been determined to succeed and he had. Far beyond his own expectations.

Gas exposure: CS gas released in a room, fellow recruits lined up against the walls. At the moment, gas masks were on. They would have to take them off and be exposed. Kaidan was more worried about what it meant regarding his biotics. The last thing he wanted to do was annihilate his fellow recruits. He was determined to succeed.

The Crucible: Fifty four hours in the field, three meals - biotics received 2 extra protein bars - and only four hours of sleep. The final training exercise to define them as Marines, to come together and work as a team and excel. Kaidan knew migraines were going to be an issue for him during this critical time. If they made it through this, they would be Marines, fit for duty.

* * *

_54 brutal hours later_

He’d been determined to succeed. He’d been determined to endure. He’d been determined to make it through regardless of the hardships he’d faced in his past and the hardships BC had designed specifically to tear recruits down. Indeed, tear them down they had but they’d also built each of them back up and they were stronger than they’d ever been before. He’d gone in determined to make his parents proud and when he saw their smiling faces in the crowd on graduation day, fought an answering smile of his own.

However, even more important than any of those things, he’d made himself proud. Despite the disaster of BaAT, despite the darkness that had threatened to consume him, he learned he could rise above those types of situations and conquer them. He learned discipline and self control. He learned to be fair minded and do what was right even when no one was watching you.

He’d learned that whatever life threw at him going forward, even though he might stumble, even though he might fall, he could get up again and surge forward, a stronger and better person - a Marine fit for the Alliance.

_Oorah!_


End file.
